The D-Book has been prepared with the intention of offering advice and support for candidates
preparing for and sitting the legal papers of the European Qualifying Examination (EQE) and
Pre-examination. Part A offers general advice on how the legal papers should be approached and
should be used in conjunction with attempts at past papers in order to develop strategy and
tactics before sitting the exam itself. A certain number of key legal principles are explained
in Part A all the decisions of the Enlarged Board of Appeal are annotated with EPC1973 EPC2000
cross-referencing and techniques are demonstrated with past papers. Parts B and C set out the
relevant law under the EPC and PCT respectively that needs to be assimilated. Subject matter
in these sections has been set out in a logical sequence that mirrors the stages of the patent
examination and granting process an applicant encounters in real life. With all the relevant
legal materials relevant to each topic brought together and ordered systematically it should
be easier for even newcomers to patent law to locate important legal basis quickly. The
chapters in parts B and C have been aligned to the maximum possible extent allowing the reader
to readily compare and contrast the counterpart stages of the EPC and PCT procedures. From 2025
extensive changes to the current EQE and the corresponding preparation courses are planned. In
2025 the changes will only affect the current preliminary examination which will be replaced
by a so-called »foundation paper« while examination papers A B C and D will remain current.
These will then be progressively replaced by new papers (M1 - M4) in 2026 and 2027. The new
format of the EQE will have an impact on the further design or continuation of the ABCD-Books
beyond
